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The ulitmate purpose of education is .............

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Redhill School strives to maximise the potential of young people. We offer our students the widest exposure to positive life experiences while assisting them to develop strong academic, cultural, sporting and leadership skills.

Celebrating 110 years of quality education, Redhill School, a secular, co-educational school offers the internationally recognised IEB (Independent Examinations Board) curriculum. Students are encouraged to be analytical and to think critically; this empowers them, making them "Free to Build" to their potential across all areas of school life.

One of the pillars of Redhill School is a future-focused approach which aims to incorporate relevant technologies in the classroom. Our Future Focus Centre is a zone of self-directed student learning. Here, our students are encouraged to take control of the learning process as they select, manage and assess their learning. Exciting programmes include Robotics, Coding and 3D printing. This creative use of technology has enabled our students and teachers to move beyond traditional classrooms, transforming education through innovative, unique ways of learning.

Our History

Origins: St Winifred's Schools for Girls (1907 - 1941)

Redhill's roots date back to 1907 when St Winifred's School for Girls was founded, occupying a small, double storey building in Yeoville, Johannesburg. Even during these early stages and during turbulent times, innovation and modernisation were at the core of the school's ethos. At the beginning of 1924, the school was relocated to Parkview where a new, 'modernised' building was erected, quickly transforming the school into a very successful and highly regarded educational establishment for girls.

The headmistress at the time, Mrs Burton-Hall, placed great emphasis on a well-rounded education for young ladies that included subjects such as music, drama, art, domestic science, elocution, botany, biology and travel in the curriculum. In 1930, the school consisted of 130 pupils with only four teachers on the permanent staff.

Rebirth: Redhill School (1941 - 1949)

In 1941, Catherine Hill became the Headmistress with a bold vision to completely transform and revitalise the school's image, both physically and in the name. "St Winifred's School for Girls" became "Redhill School", named for the Headmistress and the vibrant colour of the new uniforms. It was here that the "Redhill Family" as we know, it with the new "Free to Build" motto, was born.

The 'new' school had a total of 68 pupils, 34 in each of the junior and high schools, later rising to 129 with the support of Director, Mr L Guittard, staff, parents and pupils. Catherine Hill's recipe for success was embodied in the only school rule Redhill had - "Do your best to make others happy". The warm and caring attitude that has been one of the most enduring elements of Redhill School's ethos were thus firmly established under the new Headmistress.

Towards the end of 1941, when many young mothers went to work during the war effort, Redhill opened a Nursery School, which was soon to become the first independent nursery school that was up to government standards in those days.

As a result of financial difficulties, Catherine Hill sought out more affordable premises for the school, finally settling on a group of rondavels in Morningside. In order to raise funds, Redhill School was registered as a company on 6 April 1946, and it was at this time that many parents agreed to serve on the Board of Directors.

Dorothy Thompson at the Helm (1949 - 1968)

Amidst crippling financial troubles, Catherine Hill (who had remarried to become Catherine Rodda) handed over the reins of leadership to Deputy Principal, Dorothy Thompson. Despite these difficulties, this was also a time of optimism for the school as pupil numbers continued to increase and educational standards improved vastly.

Elements of the curriculum could be seen as almost revolutionary, given the times and the conservative nature of education under the National Party. Despite the restricted quota system on pupils of colour, to qualify for a government grant, the school was not prepared to impose this quota and claimed to be an "undenominational school... that endeavours to build religious tolerance and mutual respect among individuals and groups with differing points of view".

The Damelin Years (1968 - 1979)

As financial difficulties continued, the governors approached Dr Isaac Kriel, the principal and majority shareholder of the Damelin Group, to take over the ownership and management of the school, and in 1968, Redhill School officially came under the guidance of the Damelin Group in a widely publicised deal worth R300 000.

From that point, Redhill underwent fundamental changes under the leadership of these dedicated educationists. From a girls' school of 150 pupils, the numbers would increase over the next ten years to 630, including boys. Major progress would be made towards achieving academic excellence through a more traditional and rigorous approach to education. Dr Kriel and Mr Witt brought some excellent new teachers to Redhill from Damelin.

Change was constant at Redhill during this time, and while stricter, more formal policies were put into place, many of the core values would remain deeply entrenched. In 1969, Margaret Landers became the new Headmistress and brought with her some much-needed stability to the changing school dynamic with a stricter and more formal approach to education. During this time, Dr Kriel and Mr Witt recognised that co-education was "in keeping with modern educational principles, and enjoyed worldwide acceptance", and so in 1974, the first boys entered the Primary School.

In January 1975, the school year opened under the leadership of William Harrison, who was the first Headmaster in the school's history. Throughout the dramatic changes of the 1970s, however, one constant remained in the lives of the pupils: the caring and dedicated teachers that helped to build the Redhill Family. They were always prepared to put in many hours in the classroom and at home marking, preparing lessons and doing extra murals without seeking recognition.

Towards a Progressive Ideal (1979 - 1989)

Following a decision by Dr Kriel and Mr Witt to depart from Redhill, the school came under the care of a Trust, which was registered in July 1979, and a Board of Trustees under the Chairmanship of Mr PB Oertel came into being.

During this time, continuity in leadership created problems for the school until Jeremy Barnes was appointed as Headmaster in 1984 and the school came under the control of a truly dedicated and forward-thinking educationist. Roger Briggs was appointed in 1983 as the Principal of the Preparatory School and Jenny Stead took on the leadership of the nursery school. This core of dedicated leaders was well placed to take Redhill through the next decade of change.

During the course of the 1980s, a number of black students were admitted into Redhill and a scholarship scheme was established to provide scholarships for them despite laws restricting black children from attending what was considered by the government as a 'whites only' school. Another crucial cornerstone of Redhill's progressive educational philosophy was the notion of religious tolerance.

"Free to Build": Modernising the Campus (1991 - 2003)

After the departure of Roger Briggs and Jeremy Barnes, Ben Brooks was appointed as the new Headmaster, with Brian Mitchell taking over as the Principal of the Preparatory school, inheriting Redhill at a time when the country was about to enter the most significant period of change in its history.

As a result of a period of sustained stability, over the next decade, the school would be significantly remodeled in the most extensive and sustained building programme in its history. Despite the difficult task of finding high quality and experienced teaching staff, Redhill's ability to produce an innovative and excellent academic programme continued to be a feature of the 1990s. One of the key decisions made under Ben Brooks was to replace the state exam with the new IEB exam.

Towards the Future (2004 - present)

After a challenging century, Redhill has weathered many storms and grown to become one of the leading educational institutions in South Africa. It has overcome times of economic and financial hardship to grow from modest beginnings to a financially stable, innovative and progressive school. Yet, during both difficult and prosperous times, it has always attracted dedicated teachers and educational leaders who were prepared to take risks and challenge the ordinary. Given the pace of technological and societal change, the need to embrace change as a constant and provide pupils with the skills to cope with it is vital. The promise of new growth and development and the willingness of the school's new leadership to embrace change suggest that the next century of Redhill School will be even better than the first.

Mr Joseph Gerassi was appointed Executive Head of the Campus in 2015, leading Redhill into a future-focused educational environment.

The current Heads of Redhill are; Joseph Gerassi (Executive Head and High School), Ray van Gass (Preparatory) and Gail Dymond (Pre-Prep).

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Redhill School strives to maximise the potential of young people. We offer our students the widest exposure to positive life experiences while assisting them to develop strong academic, cultural, sporting and leadership skills. Celebrating 110 years of quality education, Redhill School, a secular, c...

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Redhill School is one of the leading independent schools in South Africa, with its educational practice showing an impressive heritage and an interesting mix of the traditional and the modern world of education. In 2016, the school once again led the field in receiving a 100% pass rate, and the head and the teachers continue to look for new ways to make education relevant for the modern world.

"Over the past year, we have made quite a few changes in the school," explains Joseph Gerassi, the executive head of Redhill School. "We believe that schools have a huge responsibility to not only support children in getting the distinctions they require to get into certain universities but in giving them the skills they need to go into the workforce with confidence."

Redhill places a strong emphasis on preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century. The school has incorporated a number of elements into both its curriculum and school facilities to support its students' development in this regard.

"We prepare our students academically, socially and emotionally," says Gerassi. "We see our success as not being only in terms of how we educate children, but in how we support them throughout the whole process. We help them throughout the difficult years of matric and give them the right tools to move confidently into the next stage of their lives."

Redhill recognises that the matric year can be a heavy load for young shoulders. Students can be captains or SRC members, all while staying on top of their studies and examinations. At Redhill, the matriculants are brought in a week before school starts so they can prepare for the year ahead and the school ensures it has systems in place to help them cope. However, these new ways of thinking about and supporting students are not limited to the matriculants alone.

"We have started looking at the 'no homework theory,' as research shows that doing piles of homework makes absolutely no difference to a student's academic progress," says Gerassi. "We have also looked at doing away with some of the testing, instead, placing more emphasis on formative testing and assessments, using these to see where a child is in their educational journey. Our parents are also invited to assess their own children so they feel that they are part of the process."

Redhill is committed to making the learning experience into an enjoyable one, where every subject and skill is learned through experience and problem-solving. The Future Focus Centre at the school is designed to provide students from Grades seven to eight with space where they can spend one full day a week solving specific problems that they can relate to.

"Generally, the problems are chosen by the students themselves and are based on real-world scenarios," explains Gerassi. "We also bring the parents in [and] get them involved through project-based learning so they understand how the system works."

Redhill's shift in focus does not mean that the traditional methods of teaching and learning are thrown out or ignored, but rather that they are cleverly blended with new ideas and research to create a holistic educational solution. The basics and fundamentals remain just that, but children are also taught to become critical thinkers, problem-solvers and innovators.

"The labour economy of the 19th and 20th centuries does not exist anymore - today it is all about the knowledge economy," says Gerassi. "How do you work with knowledge and become more creative? How do you become an entrepreneur? These are the questions that Redhill matriculants can answer as they go on to be the changemakers of the 21st century."

The 2016 matric results for Redhill School are a testament to the success of its new way of thinking. The outgoing group has produced the best results school has ever had, with 20% of the students getting seven or more distinctions each. Redhill students featured 29 times in the Top 1% of subject results and the school was one of the few institutions with four students in the IEB's outstanding achievements list.

"The innovative way we have been teaching the kids, the way we have been looking after them - it shows in these results," concludes Gerassi.

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Redhill School: Making a difference to education - The Mail & Guardian

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Redhill School is one of the leading independent schools in South Africa, with its educational practice showing an impressive heritage and an interesting mix of the traditional and the modern world of education.

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Teachers and pupils of Redhill School took part in the 2016 School SleepOut, braving a freezing Johannesburg winter's night in their sleeping bags at Kingsmead College.

The college played host to the other schools taking part in this year's SleepOut and the icy weather was a unifying factor as the night progressed.

Lelita Kekana, a Grade 10 pupil of Redhill was grateful for the opportunity to be part of the event. "My first thought was that I was going to miss my warm bed, and that got me thinking that this is what many people go through day in and day out. They only have the clothes on their back," said Kekana

Students from Redhill School learning how to hand - knit at the #SchoolSleepOut2016 @Sandton_News pic.twitter.com/lZFRKuqfLr

- Michael Butler (@USQUExADxFINEM) July 28, 2016

Fellow pupil, Thomas Healey, in Grade 7, said it was an eye-opener for him. "You realise that you sleep in a nice bed every night. Tonight gives us the opportunity to experience what so many South Africans have to go through. As privileged individuals, we must help out as much as we can."

Teachers also participated in the SleepOut and were seen consuming dangerous amounts of coffee.

Simphiwe Vilakazi, director of community engagement at Redhill said, "Tonight is about creating awareness around homelessness and we are very proud of our students who have embraced the challenge."

Joseph Gerassi, executive head of the school believes that pupils should learn and grow outside of traditional structures. "I think it was a strategic decision on behalf of the school," he said.

"As a privileged school, we wanted to get our kids to understand that not everybody is in the same position that they are. Part of education is not only about the maths and science and English, it's also about life and how you can become a better person."

At Kingsmead College for the start of the #SchoolSleepOut2016 @Sandton_News pic.twitter.com/3yV4c4gfpX

- Michael Butler (@USQUExADxFINEM) July 28, 2016

Jaco Koekemoer, CEO of Caxton Coldset Printers said the main objectives of the CEO and School SleepOut was to create awareness and collect funds in support of the less fortunate who shared the streets of Johannesburg. He added that although the main event only lasted for one night, it was vital for people to create a realisation within local communities that there were others who were not sharing in what the city had to offer.

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Redhill shivers for a good cause - Sandton Chronicle

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Teachers and pupils of Redhill School took part in the 2016 School SleepOut, braving a freezing Johannesburg winter's night in their sleeping bags at Kingsmead College. The college played host to the other schools taking part in this year's SleepOut and the icy weather was a unifying factor as the night progressed.

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Redhill school is a proudly innovative school, and one that believes in giving students more choices and more opportunities to excel.

Redhill School is the only school in South Africa that is in a position to offer students the choice between graduating with either an IB Diploma or IEB Senior Certificate. In other words, students now have the opportunity to choose either a local or international qualification!

Both are recognised by South African and International tertiary institutions.

This is an international programme, recognised by tertiary learning institutions worldwide. It is a challenging and comprehensive two-year university-preparation programme, for students in Grade 11 and 12.

The IB Diploma Programme is research-based and develops disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge. Its holistic approach means that students engage in thinking and discussion, alongside independent research and community service.

The structure of the DP Diploma Programme curriculum:

A compulsory core, comprising three components:

Theory of Knowledge (TOK) - a critical thinking course which explores the nature of knowledge and teaches students how to make connections across the academic disciplines.

The Extended Essay (EE) - an independent research project on a topic of the student's own choice. This is assessed externally.

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) - students engage in a range of experiential and service learning activities to enhance their personal and interpersonal development, as well as a healthy lifestyle and a commitment to social responsibility activity.

Six subject groups - students select courses from these subject groups:

Group 1 English A Language and Literature HL and SL or Self-taught Mother tongue

Group 2 French Ab Initio

Group 3 Business Management HL/SL, Geography HL/SL and History HL/SL

Group 4 Biology HL/SL, Chemistry HL/SL and Physics HL/SL

Group 5 Mathematics HL/SL

Group 6 Visual Arts (optional)

Students must take THREE Higher Level (HL) and THREE Standard Level (SL) courses together with TOK, EE and CAS.

To learn more about the Diploma Programme, read this guide:

To learn more about the International Baccalaureate Organisation, visit their website here.

Grade 10 students may apply for admission to the Programme (which they begin in their Grade 11 year), provided they are achieving at least 75% in the subjects that they plan to take on Higher Level. They must also be achieving satisfactory results in the relevant benchmarking assessments.

To find out more about the IB fee structure, please contact the IB Coordinator, Ms Michele Marnitz, mmarnitz@redhill.co.za.

Students and their parents must register for an admission interview with our IB Diploma Programme panel. During this interview, the student's marks, work ethic, career aspirations etc. are discussed.

Enquiries and meeting requests can be sent to: Michele Marnitz, mmarnitz@redhill.co.za

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Redhill school is a proudly innovative school, and one that believes in giving students more choices and more opportunities to excel. Redhill School is the only school in South Africa that is in a position to offer students the choice between graduating with either an IB Diploma or IEB Senior Certificate.

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‘Articulation of ATL across the programmes also offers a powerful strategy for increasing students’ readinessfor the DP and their success in further study.’ – FPTP, p. 7                                                                  When any of the stakeholders look at the quotation above, they might find themselves in agreement. In practice, however, there always seems to be conflict among various stakeholders when it comes to implementing programmes to achieve that goal. The problem is that the implementation of ATL skills in an organised manner demands change in many aspects of school life. Invariably, this is going to upset some people.There is alignment as far as the need for skills-based education is concerned, but there will often be conflict over the implementation of it. This includes everything from timetabling, to allocation of classrooms, allocation of budget and, most often, assessment. Major changes in my context include timetabled professional development sessions in small groups, whole-school professional development sessions after school, project-based learning for students and the introduction of new interdisciplinary programmes in the Middle School.   

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‘Articulation of ATL across the programmes also offers a powerful strategy for increasing students’ readinessfor the DP and their success in further study.’ – FPTP, p. 7                                                                  When any of the stakeholders look at the quotation above, they might find themselves in agreement. In practice, however, there always seems to be conflict among various stakeholders when it comes to implementing programmes to achieve that goal. The problem is that the implementation of ATL skills in an organised manner demands change in many aspects of school life. Invariably, this is going to upset some people.There is alignment as far as the need for skills-based education is concerned, but there will often be conflict over the implementation of it. This includes everything from timetabling, to allocation of classrooms, allocation of budget and, most often, assessment. Major changes in my context include timetabled professional development sessions in small groups, whole-school professional development sessions after school, project-based learning for students and the introduction of new interdisciplinary programmes in the Middle School.   

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I recently met with an eighth-grade student who had been accepted to a specialized high school focused on science. I wanted to compliment her on her achievement and learn more about the academic experiences that led to her choice of high school. I already knew her to be a young lady who was determined, hardworking, and intelligent-but I didn't know what made her tick.

During our discussion, I asked about her experiences in our school. She shared her arc of learning as a student, and gushed about the joy she had as a member of both our after-school band program and our extracurricular drama program.

I asked what had made her choose the high school she had, given that she had strengths in a variety of other areas. She smiled and said, "I'm really fascinated by science and medicine-it makes me curious."

She planned to continue her pursuits in the arts, but she was clear that her love for science was going to drive her efforts.

I left the conversation inspired as an educational leader. Certainly we have to fulfill mandates and meet educational standards, but so often our students leave our schools uncertain about who they are in the world and without a fully formed sense of purpose. Academics without purpose can be an exercise void of substance.

We can powerfully influence the level of learner actualization in our classrooms if we ask the right questions to help students develop that sense of purpose.

Facilitating Self-Reflection

Asking the right questions develops a deeper understanding of self. How many professionals do you know who would have chosen an alternate career path if they had asked different questions at the start? The same can be said for students in the classroom.

Take a learner who is reluctantly engaged in a project. Maybe they enter into the work with a series of starts and stops, or they ask the teacher for a topic change several times before getting into the meat of the work, only to come up with nothing in the end. What if the student was given an opportunity to reflect on what they're worried about in an effort to understand what stops them from fully following through?

I've seen many students decide early on in their learning life that they were good at one subject and bad at another. These beliefs are often difficult to dismiss. Asking students to identify topics they're interested in but haven't tried offers amazing benefits. A deeper dive into this line of questioning may result in an understanding of what stops them in their exploration.

Students need to develop a consistent, self-regulated feedback loop. Effective questions can facilitate this. What is your proudest achievement? What is your biggest failure? What would you do if you knew that failure was not an option? These are the types of questions students need to consider on a regular basis.

The Influence on the Work

The impact on work products in and out of the classroom can be substantial if robust reflective questions are leveraged properly and educators more fully understand students' interests. Learners can begin to take ownership of their goals and develop authentic growth points.

A standards-driven education can be both highly productive and personally rewarding. There's no reason to think that these things cannot exist in the same space-but in order for this to happen effectively, students must develop their own path to outcomes of their choosing.

Much the same as a hiker entering the woods, when students begin a project or unit of learning there should be trail markers along the way. In education we're very good at devising benchmark assessments to collect formative data, but what of the innate and essential learners who are before us?

Teachers should mindfully craft authentic learning reflections along the way for their students. The form need not matter. Pen and paper suffice, as does a rubric, or a Google form. I've seen teachers seamlessly incorporate these reflections into student conferences. The point is for students to have a process and a space to consider their life as learners.

Helping Students Find Their Truth

In Hamlet, Polonius famously advises his son, Laertes, "To thine own self be true / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man." But what if our students do not know themselves?

Learners who are authentically true to themselves will explore with abandon. The insights gained from reflective questions can be used by students and teachers to develop links between various subjects and spark interests in multiple curricular areas.

As students tend the garden of self-discovery, new curiosities will naturally arise. The transfer of key understandings and the information that applies to multiple concepts can provide inspiration and clarity to the confused and disaffected learner. For those who are already on a path to their most authentic self, these questions will support a deeper and more rewarding journey.

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I recently met with an eighth-grade student who had been accepted to a specialized high school focused on science. I wanted to compliment her on her achievement and learn more about the academic experiences that led to her choice of high school.

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Parental encouragement and support for learning activities at home combined with parental involvement in schooling is critical to children's education. A growing body of research shows that building effective partnerships between parents, families and schools to support children's learning leads to improved learning outcomes. Parents are the first and continuing educators of their children. Research also shows that teacher quality, including standards and training in parental engagement, is important for facilitating effective parental engagement.

The importance of productive partnerships between students, parents, carers, families, schools and the broader community in maximising student engagement and achievement was recognised by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, December 2008.

Considered broadly, parental engagement consists of partnerships between families, schools and communities, raising parental awareness of the benefits of engaging in their children's education, and providing them with the skills to do so.

As Muller (2009) states: ' Family-school and community partnerships are re-defining the boundaries and functions of education. They enlarge parental and community capacity; they create conditions in which children learn more effectively. In these ways they take education beyond the school gates'.

Research has shown that parental engagement (of various kinds) has a positive impact on many indicators of student achievement, including:

Higher grades and test scores

Enrolment in higher level programs and advanced classes

Lower drop-out rates

Higher graduation rates

A greater likelihood of commencing tertiary education.

Beyond educational achievement, parental engagement is associated with various indicators of student development. These include:

Better social skills

Improved behaviour

Better adaptation to school

Increased social capital

A greater sense of personal competence and efficacy for learning

Greater engagement in school work

A stronger belief in the importance of education.

From Parental engagement in learning and schooling: Lessons from research. A report by the Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth for the Family-School and Community Partnerships Bureau.

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A parent's role in their child's education

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Parental encouragement and support for learning activities at home combined with parental involvement in schooling is critical to children's education. A growing body of research shows that building effective partnerships between parents, families and schools to support children's learning leads to improved learning outcomes. Parents are the first and continuing educators of their children.

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This article is the second of a weekly five-part series about how evidence can inform classroom practice. Read part one, in which Charlotte argues that an emphasis on evidence-based practice would lead to prescribed practice.
A teacher's role is to make informed and intelligent decisions about practice to achieve various outcomes with and for students in their classes.

A teacher's role is to make judgments about how best to help their students learn in the environments in which they teach. They generally do so competently, thoughtfully, and with appropriate caution, in consideration of their own values and those of their students and other stakeholders.

Teachers are aware that their decisions might not achieve the intended outcomes. They monitor the impacts of their decisions over time, evaluate the results, and respond flexibly as necessary.

Teachers reflect on their practice to grow and improve. As they do this, their experience informs their intuition for decision-making, and they become better at it (Berliner, 2004). In general, teachers are thoughtful, caring, knowledgeable, and skilful individuals.

Teachers are specialists in education, in the subjects that they teach, in their teaching contexts, and in their students, and can use their expertise and experience as well as evidence to make informed decisions about their teaching practice. The question that is relevant to teachers is not so much about the effectiveness of their actions, as about the potential educational value of what they do.

Academic achievement, though central, is not the only intended purpose of education

The curriculum and mandated assessment programs reflect the purposes of education, which are constantly discussed and debated, with a broad range of diverse views and values informing the debate. It is a sign of a healthy democracy.

Currently, the academic knowledge, understanding, skills, and capabilities that are valued by a society are described in mandated curriculums that teachers in all schools must follow. In Australia we have a national curriculum that articulates what is valued at each level of schooling from Foundation to Year 10. This necessarily describes the scope of what should be taught in the classroom (or conversely, may demand too much, as some teachers have complained of our curriculum).

Curriculums evolve, as they should do, and are in dispute, as they should be, as teachers, researchers, policymakers, parents, and students discuss what it is that they believe is necessary and desirable for students to know and be able to do when they graduate.

Programs of assessment such as NAPLAN (Australia's National Assessment Program of Literacy and Numeracy, a standardised test completed by all Year 3, 5, 7, and 9 students every year) further narrow teachers' choices about what, but also how and when to teach particular knowledge, understandings, skills and capabilities.

Academic learning is not the only intended outcome of education. Teachers might set additional learning goals for individual students. These may be behavioural, social, cognitive, affective, physical, or perhaps something else entirely. These goals are negotiated by teachers with students, their parents, other teachers, guidance officers, support staff, administration staff, etc, and are mediated by mandated policies and curriculums.

Education also provides students with opportunities to cooperate, collaborate, and socialise with peers of different backgrounds, identities, and experiences, in preparation for work and life as an adult. These opportunities may develop social, behavioural, affective, and cognitive, styles and habits.

The questions of what the purpose of education is, and what additional learning goals are desirable and appropriate for different students, require value judgments to be made in consideration of students, individually and collectively, and their learning environments.

Teachers are best placed to make decisions about learning goals for their students, and how best to achieve them, drawing on their professional and expert knowledge of individual students, classroom dynamics, and learning environments, as well as a range of evidence about learning and practice. Restricting the options for practice available to teachers to particular practices is unhelpful, as a range of practices might be needed to achieve different goals for different students. Prescriptive practice undermines the specialised knowledge and skills central to the professional role of teachers.

Personally, I would argue that the purpose of education is to provide students with the knowledge, understandings, skills, capabilities, and cognitive styles for making appropriate judgments and decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities. To me, a part of this is providing students with a safe space to explore the values of others and make decisions about what they personally value, and showing them that it is okay to change one's mind, or one's values.

How I would manage to achieve this goal, while still operating within the narrow framework of the curriculum and mandatory assessment programs would depend on the circumstances of the individual students I had in my class, my relationships with them, the dynamics and relationships between them, and the environment in which we learned. Further, I would need to be cognisant of the inconsistencies between the values demonstrated by my teaching practices and those required for achieving "success" in the assessment program.

You might, of course, disagree! As I've said, ongoing discussion about what we value, and why, what this looks like, and how we value it, is a sign of a healthy democracy. We are a diverse society, with many values, ideas, and skills to contribute.

A teacher's role is to make decisions about practice to help their students to achieve particular goals. Discussions about evidence can (and should) inform teachers' decisions. The consequence of prescriptive practice is the reduction in scope for teachers to make decisions regarding classroom practice and learning experiences in consideration of the specific needs, goals, and contexts of their students in particular teaching and learning settings.
A version of this piece has appeared on Charlotte's blog, Hypothetical Thinking.
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The role of a teacher and the purpose of education

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This article is the second of a weekly five-part series about how evidence can inform classroom practice. Read part one, in which Charlotte argues that an emphasis on evidence-based practice would lead to prescribed practice. A teacher's role is to make judgments about how best to help their students learn in the environments in which they teach.

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A successful school is about much more than teaching. While good teaching and learning are crucial, the administration that underpins it is key to providing a well-rounded education that encompasses the whole child. Effective administration and operations support an education that goes well beyond imparting knowledge.

School operations teams ensure that students' daily needs are met; that they receive healthy and nutritious meals, sleep and learn in a safe environment, and receive appropriate medical care and mental health support. Beyond the day-to-day, the administrative team are often the ones responsible for recording, checking and analysing student data, so the can to enable those responsible for both learning and wellbeing to tailor their approach to the needs of the student.

Here are 3 reasons why effective school administration is so important for student education.

1. Allows Teachers To Focus On Teaching
Presentation of data allows schools to open communication channels with parents.
Having robust systems, policies and procedures in place ensures that teaching and learning flows as smoothly as possible. Crucial information such as assessment results, pastoral data and lesson observations informs tailored teaching strategies to help children achieve as highly as possible.

Administrators ensure data is entered in a timely manner, presented to teachers in an easy-to-use fashion and combine different datasets into one effective plan. This allows teachers to focus on their lessons and prioritise student achievement, instead of getting tied up with the administrative load required to access such important information.

The collection and appropriate presentation of data allows schools to open communication channels with parents, giving them an understanding of their child's academic progress so that they can engage in useful conversations with teachers to support their child's progress. Similarly, presenting academic data appropriately to students helps them to be a part of their learning strategy and goal setting, supported by the experience of their teachers.

Effective school administration supports student goal setting and academic achievement.

2. Administration Promotes Accountability

Parents select a boarding school because they believe it will provide their child with the best possible education and start to their future careers. From a marketing perspective, parents are as important to school principals as the students. Parent are the ones who will continue to choose the school for younger siblings, or make recommendations to their friends.

For this reason, it's important that principals ensure they have well-documented processes, procedures and record keeping. Detailed school records provide parents with peace of mind that their child's academic and personal development is being looked after, as well as their general safety and daily wellbeing.

School administrators play a key role in managing communications with parents via setting up and managing reporting procedures. They also ensure that parents have easy access to their child's information.

3. Administration Informs Decisions

Good data supports the vision and decision-making of the school leadership team. An effective administration department is able to extract and analyse key data to inform a school's strategic decisions around education provision.

Data analysis supports school leadership vision setting and strategy.

School leaders cannot remain static but must adapt and change their vision and processes as the world of education embraces new challenges and fresh technologies. Effective data analysis shows the leadership team where the school's strengths and weaknesses currently lie, enabling them to understand the knowledge and skills they need to focus on embedding, and at what stage of a pupil's education.

An effective administration team must be supported by powerful software that understands how boarding schools function. Revolutionise your school administration with Boardingware. Our cloud-based technology supports data entry and analysis from any location, when your team need it most. Our easy-to-use interface takes the hassle out of student attendance and accountability, letting your team focus on how they can best support your students.

Contact us today to get a free demo or visit our website to learn more about what we can provide.

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3 Reasons Why School Administration Is Important For Student Education

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A successful school is about much more than teaching. While good teaching and learning are crucial, the administration that underpins it is key to providing a well-rounded education that encompasses the whole child. Effective administration and operations support an education that goes well beyond imparting knowledge.

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In my schools, the five ATL skills: Thinking, Social, Communication, Self-Management, and Research are implemented implicitly throughout the curriculum as those are necessary competencies for inquiry-based learning. Therefore, to make the students and parents more conscious of these skills, teachers plan explicit activities for the students to be more engaged actively to develop these skills and become more aware of them. Then, students will create a process journal that has their progress and reflection on their development.

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(infographic created on Canva)

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Preparing Students for Jobs that Don't Exist

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Preparing Students for Jobs that Don't Exist

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Education: Preparing Students for Jobs that Don't Yet Exist | Maruan El Mahgiub | TEDxIEMadrid

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WEF - 10 Jobs That Didn't Exist 10 Years Ago

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WEF - 10 Jobs That Didn't Exist 10 Years Ago

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Employment trend watchers have been pinpointing the sectors where jobs are anticipated to increase forever-every five years the BLS projects its own outlook and sites like our list what's become old news: that careers in a handful of sectors (most linked to technology, a growing concern about the environment and an aging population) are on the rise while others continue to falter. But are they new occupations or simply new ways of meeting existing needs?

"I don't believe that new needs have been created," says Charles Purdy, senior editor for Monster.com. "We've just created new ways and adopted new technologies to get them done."

Still, each year as twenty-somethings leave college campuses in droves, industries on the rise offer something uniquely appealing: the opportunity to seize brand new positions where competition hasn't reached critical mass. With that in mind, we scoured jobs data and career sites for the most promising positions in on-the-rise sectors that were only created in the past decade. They're so new that they didn't even exist a decade ago, which more than puts your parents out of the running.
App Developer
The iPhone was introduced in 2007, the Android shortly after. Since then, more than a million apps have been put up for sale in Apples App Store and Android's Play. Consider this: in 2011, pulled in more than $15 billion in revenues from mobile applications, which shrink programs that used to run only on desktop computers to make them work on mobile devices.

As demand surges for apps to run on iOS, Android and whatever operating system is waiting in the wings, companies are faced with a dearth of talent with the skills to develop for mobile. This means fresh opportunity for programmers and developers to break into a booming market. Currently more than 16,000 listings for mobile app developers are listed on job site indeed.com.
Market Research Data Miner
As customer information becomes more and more vital to the retail experience, businesses are compiling data in droves-and hiring experts to make sense of it. From different datasets including structured (transaction), semi-structured (user behavior) and unstructured (text) information, data analysts and scientists look for behavioral patterns to help retailers and businesses predict future trends or to build recommendation engines or personalized advertising.

" Library science is a really hot degree right now," says Purdy, "And data-mining could be one of the reasons. It's a helpful knowledge set for someone hoping to manage large amounts of data" Hopeful data-minded candidates can include library science majors, researchers, engineers or applied scientists.
Educational or Admissions Consultants
When a certain set of affluent parents watch their toddler stack his or her first set of blocks, they're not lost in a moment of cute, they're strategizing their child's likeliness of getting into the right pre-school. These moms and dads will stop at nothing to secure the best education for their kids-which for many includes hiring an educational or admissions consultant to help ease the process of interviewing and testing into schools from preschool to college. Admissions consultants can be paid thousands of dollars for their skills-which often include personal connections with school administrators.
Millennial Generational Expert
Generational consultants help companies better understand the changing workforce-and who better to explain the Millennials than a living, breathing member of Generation Y? Companies in every sector and of every size face the challenge of recruiting and developing young professionals to prepare them to be future executives. Companies can build loyalty in their workforce by engaging in practices that connect directly with their younger employees. All-hands happy hour, anyone?

But this isn't a role that's strictly for the young ones. Many generational experts are older employees, who've turned their experience with young people into an ability to advise companies on how best to engage, motivate and, yes, placate this often fickle workforce.
Social Media Manager
Making the most of online communities-- what we generally call "social" networks--has become an integral part of businesses from small-town coffee shops to behemoths like Amazon and , which both employ social media managers in their marketing and advertising departments. "There has been a great big shift in how companies communicate with their customers ," Purdy says. On job site indeed, for example, there are currently over 11,000 listings for the title. But the term "social media managers" really covers all manner of tasks--from the social-savvy recent grad who mans the Twitter feed to the new wave of marketing strategists who help companies to leverage their social audiences through targeted marketing.

But don't be fooled that your 10,000 Twitter friends are going to land you a job. "Young people may be more technologically savvy than their older colleagues," says Purdy, "But technology in the workplace is evolving so quickly that a person can't think that just because they're great at Twitter will make them a desirable commodity long-term."
Chief Listening Officer
One step up from a "social media manager," (more on that later) the Chief Listening Officer keeps her ears (and eyes) on social channels and real life conversations to keep the company up to speed on what their customers are saying. "Before social media, business was a one way channel of communication. The company talked, we listened," Purdy says. "Now we've become accustomed to two-way conversations. We expect them to listen, and so we see these kinds of roles."

Beth LaPierre became the first ever Chief Listening Officer in 2010, and while she's since moved on to other gigs, she spent her time monitoring the more than 300,000 mentions of Kodak on Facebook, Twitter, message forums, YouTube, blogs, and elsewhere on the Web each day, using software from Radian6 and PeopleBrowsr. Then she moved that information to the relevant department. As more and more companies rely on social streams and online exchanges for customer service reasons, the role of the listener will only increase.
Cloud Computing Services
In August 2006 's Eric Schmidt described the company's approach to software as a service as "cloud computing" at a search engine conference, possibly the first high profile usage of the term. Because it was used in the context of describing Google properties (Gmail, etc. etc.), it became synonymous with online storage and sharing of data. These days, the term has adopted by everyone from Microsoft to start-ups that help moms access coupons in the check-out line. Companies are looking for database managers, engineers and strategists for storing and indexing massive amounts of data-we're talking petrabytes (one quadrillion bytes) of information.
Elder Care
As the population ages and baby boomers become grandparents, an increasing amount of attention is being turned to the care of the elderly. Between legal concerns, staffing at residential facilities or consultants hired to facilitate end-of-life issues, jobs in this area are expected to increase. People who have an understanding of the increasingly complex healthcare system in addition to an interest in comfort care are well suited for these roles. Communication skills are also paramount-as elder care service providers are often tasked with communicating end-of-life issues to their client and his or her family members.
Sustainability Expert
"There are obviously some very concrete reasons that companies00even those who aren't in the green or alternative energy space-would be interested in sustainable practices," says Purdy. Oftentimes hiring someone into an environmentally-conscious role could be a cost-savings issue, he says, both in terms of lowering power bills or to take advantage of increasing tax rebates for companies committing to sustainability.

A degree in environmental science or business management major would prove useful in these new "green" roles as they often require developing new workflows to increase productivity while lowering the carbon footprint of a business, but specific environmental leadership majors are on the rise. Projects can include: recycling and waste reduction, supplier sustainability evaluation. Purdy thinks Millennials are a shoe-in: "Look at the next gen of managers and leaders," he says. "These young people grew up in a culture that valued recycling, valued being green. They're far more driven by those concerns because they've been hearing about it since they were babies. I think we'll continue to see growth in this area for young employees."
User Experience Design
What is user experience design? Quite simply, experiences created and shaped through technology and how to make them happen. Case in point: the experience of waking up to an alarm clock is very different from the experience created by the rising sun and chirping birds. A user experience designer's concern is how to mimic the birds-sun experience through technology (see the variety of alarm clocks on the market that grow louder and brighter to wake you gently). Would-be designers should be fluent in Photoshop, understand programming languages like CSS and HTML and feel comfortable taking an idea from sketch to prototype. As far as demand goes, things are looking bright: a recent indeed.com search returned 168,219 job listings.

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Employment trend watchers have been pinpointing the sectors where jobs are anticipated to increase forever-every five years the BLS projects its own outlook and sites like our list what's become old news: that careers in a handful of sectors (most linked to technology, a growing concern about the environment and [...]

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(learning how to learn)

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Each individual teacher has an opinion about what the core purpose of education should be, not only in their own classroom but also in school in general. Many issues occur when differing opinions about the purpose of education collide. It is important to recognize that other people, including many of your coworkers, administrators, and your students' parents might have a different point of view concerning what education should be all about.

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Each individual teacher has an opinion about what the core purpose of education should be, not only in their own classroom but also in school in general. Many issues occur when differing opinions about the purpose of education collide.

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School Culture and Alignment with ATL Skills

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School Culture and Alignment with ATL Skills

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One of the first things that our school does with new parents is a value-sort activity (see below). I have been told that the three most popular responses is that the parents value that their daughters are "happy", "independent", and that they "shape a better world".

On our best days these (and other values) inform our planning for and delivery of teaching which best prepares our girls to create that better future for themselves and the world. On other days we are bogged down by the varied needs of learning and assessment within the IB framework.

Often direct ATL skills instruction shifts towards the back-burner in favor of discrete language instruction. We are a 100% L2 population. Our few native English speaking students are staff children. We do include the skills in unit and lesson planning but their presence in our written curriculum and discussions about the transfer of teaching and learning strategies is at the second level of importance (behind subject-specific concepts/content and language skills).

I have a goal of offering a voice in favor of a greater focus on skills. Or, at least facilitating greater collaboration on the use of skills across the curriculum.

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The Purpose of Education - looking at the stakeholders.

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The Purpose of Education - looking at the stakeholders.

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Created on Canva

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My school is still a candidate school so we are working towards the explicit teaching of ATL skills. We already teach many of the skills implicitly but as we work towards certification, we need to ensure that the skills are being taught explicitly. As teachers, we want to see our students develop in a variety of areas: not only with knowledge but the skills to develop the ability to seek out that knowledge in a critical and collaborative manner. The more engaged students are, the more they will learn. The ATL skills framework matches up exactly with how we want our students to develop as learners. We incorporate many of these skill categories and clusters in our classes every day, however we need to ensure a couple of things. 1- that we are planning ahead to cover as many clusters as possible and, 2-. to ensure that we are teaching explicit strategies within these categories and clusters to develop our students as life-long learners.

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HI, Amanda : )

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Hi, Caroline : )

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- Tony Wagner

Notes:

1) "Collaboration is a team sport."

2) "Accountable teamwork"

3) Inter-disciplinary, problem-based learning

4) Risk-taking and reflection on mistakes - "fail early and fail often" / "rapid iteration" / "research and development" ' F is the new A / iteration /

5) Learning = "creative work"

6) Intrinsically motivated = desire to change the world = teachers / parents encouraged play to passion to progress

7) Intrinsic motivation e.g. 20% rule at Google permission to play on company time (any project of their choosing) e.g. teach your passion / more play

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(AP Photo/The Sentinel, Dennis R.J. Geppert)

What is the purpose of education? The question came into stark relief when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently tried to quietly change the century-old mission of the University of Wisconsin system by proposing to remove words in the state code that command the university to "search for truth" and "improve the human condition" and replacing them with "meet the state's workforce needs." Walker backed off when the issue became public and sparked intense criticism from academics and others, but the issue remains a topic of national debate and of the following post. It was written by Arthur H. Camins, director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. The ideas expressed in this article are his alone and do not represent Stevens Institute. His other writing can be found at www.arthurcamins.com.

By Arthur H. Camins

Debate about the purposes of education never seems to end. Should young people become educated to get prepared to enter the workforce, or should the purpose of education be focused more on social, academic, cultural and intellectual development so that students can grow up to be engaged citizens?

Over the last 50 years, anxiety about competition with the Soviet Union, Japan, and China for global economic, military and political dominance have supported periodic calls for more effective workforce development. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently tried to change the mission statement of the University of Wisconsin to focus exclusively on workforce development. With each new workforce development or economic competitiveness demand on our K-12 schools, there has been push-back from those who want greater emphasis on a broader view of education.

But it doesn't have to be either-or. Education should prepare young people for life, work and citizenship.

Knowledge of the natural and engineered environments and how people live in the world is critical to all three purposes of education. Critical thinking, creativity, interpersonal skills and a sense of social responsibility all influence success in life, work and citizenship. For example, unhappy personal relationships often spill over into the work environment, while a stressful workplace or unemployment negatively impacts family life. Uninformed disengaged citizens lead to poor policy choices that impact life, work and citizenship. To paraphrase the verse in the old song, "You can't have one without the others."

This multiple-purpose perspective has practical implications for both day-to-day instruction as well as education policy.

What classrooms features support education for life, work and citizenship?

The key is to identify the learning behaviors in which students should be engaged. The National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education provides some good examples. The framework describes the practices that scientists and engineers utilize to build new knowledge and designs, but also the student engagement that leads to learning. To be clear, the framework starts from the premise that science is a means to develop explanations about how the natural world works, and engineering is a means to develop solutions to human problems. Both are intended to improve our lives- a strong motivator for all learning. With a little tweaking, the practices are surprisingly applicable to various school subjects and as vehicles to address our multiple purposes.

(1) Ask questions about phenomenon (causes of cancer, climate change) and define problems that need to be solved (designing cancer treatment drugs, low-impact energy generation). In classrooms, students can ask questions about how living things get energy to live and grow. They can design prototypes of robots to clean up an oil spill. An educational focus on asking productive questions and defining meaningful problems isn't just an academic skill. It is an important disposition across life, work and citizenship.

(2) Develop and use models. Models represent relevant testable features of scientific explanations or design solutions. In classrooms, teachers engage students to surface, clarify, refine and advance their understanding. Done well, this means that teachers don't just present already established ideas but engage students in examining and advancing their own ideas. It means that students are challenged to reflect on what they already think they know and when appropriate research what others know in order to develop a preliminary testable model. One key modeling idea, applicable to life, work and citizenship is that most problems worth contemplating are complex and that seeking to understand that complexity is a better approach than a rush to simplicity. Another important idea is that models, or our initial ideas, should be subject to systematic investigation. Knowing whether or not those models comport with reality is critical, lest we make poor uninformed choices with unintended consequences.

(3) Plan and carry out investigations. The goals of investigations are to test, refine or replace existing or hypothetical explanations or design solutions. For example, in high school biology classrooms, students may design investigations to determine what kinds of algae and what conditions are optimal for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In doing so, they need to anticipate what data would support or challenge their initial ideas or design choices. Developing students' abilities to examine data systematically, is yet another multipurpose education outcome. Taught well, students learn three basic premises: The questions asked frame what data is available for inquiry. The questions not asked may be just as important. In addition, in an active classroom with plenty of time for discussion, students learn that different people look at the same data and reach different interpretations. Not a bad life skill!

(4) Analyze and interpret data and (5) Use mathematics and computational thinking. Data does not speak for itself. Investigations to test explanations or designs yield data that must be interpreted. In classrooms organized around these eight practices, students learn that answers to important questions are not preordained. Instead, answers come from examining whether, when, under what circumstances, and how things work in the world. Students learn to use both traditional and modern interpretative tools. Especially in examining complex systems or designing complex solutions, mathematical representation and computational analysis are critical. Students learn to see mathematics not as procedures to be memorized, but as tools for making sense of the world- yet another multipurpose skill.

(6) Constructing explanations and designing solutions and (7) Engage in argument from evidence. The framework says:

"The goal for students is to construct logically coherent explanations of phenomena that incorporate their current understanding of science, or a model that represents it, and are consistent with the available evidence.... [When considering proposed solutions to engineering design problems], there is usually no single best solution but rather a range of solutions. Which one is the optimal choice depends on the criteria used for making evaluations."

However, the framework goes one step further to say that in addition to developing logical evidence-based arguments, students should practice defending or revising their explanations or solutions in the light of competing ideas. Think about the power of depersonalizing arguments and making them about evidence. That sure could improve addressing the inevitable conflicts that are part of the fabric of life, work and citizenship.

(8) Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information. The practices of science and engineering are forward-looking, knowledge- and solution-directed and always seeking improvement. As such, there is a premium on communicating with others. As a result, classrooms that engage in these practices are characterized by collaboration, reflectiveness and openness to alternative ideas. Once again, great skills to nourish for life, work and citizenship.

What policies promote education for life, work and citizenship?

First, across multiple traditional subject areas, teaching to develop students' expertise to apply these practices implies substantial shifts in instructional emphasis. These shifts will require the development of new curricula and professional development. That should be a high funding priority.

Second, because substantial engagement in these practices is a significant cultural change, time and patience are in order. No quick fixes or short-term measurable results can be expected from current formative or summative assessment instruments or practices.

Third, teaching through these practices demands content that has personal and social relevance for students so that they are intellectually and emotionally engaged in their own learning. This implies that teaching for test success is an insufficient, if not undermining, motivator. As a result, current policies that give priority to consequential assessment need to be severely curtailed.

Fourth, since our social and technological context is constantly evolving, education for life, work and citizenship cannot just focus on what is already known and how we live now. Therefore, teaching and assessment that privilege rote learning should give way to preparation for future learning.

No matter what progress is made to shift the practices and content of daily classroom instruction, inequity will continue to be a substantial limiting factor. Application of the systems thinking that characterizes progress in science and engineering to education policy means that real sustainable improvement depends on addressing inequity in areas such as well-paid employment, health care, food, and housing security. You can't have one without the others.

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What's the purpose of education in the 21st century?

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To make a living? To be a good citizen? To lead a healthy productive life? What about all of the above?

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When I conduct workshops for parents and educators and ask them, "Do you want kids to have a quality educational experience?" they all say, "Yes." With enthusiasm. I have yet to have a parent or teacher say to me, "No. We're looking for a mediocre experience. Maybe even a poor one. Quality is seriously over-rated." No. There is universal agreement that we want our kids to have the best educational experience we can offer them. The problem comes when we start to define exactly what we mean by "a quality educational experience." At that point, differences begin to surface. We quickly discover that there are different ideas about what we want for our kids when it comes to their education and the purpose of education.

Let me begin by asking you to consider the following question: "What is the purpose of education in the 21st century?" In this article, I'll initiate the conversation by giving a historical perspective and suggesting where we might want to go from here. Other articles, some written by me and some by my colleagues at Funderstanding, will continue the conversation. I encourage you to share your ideas. Together, we can have a spirited and enlightening dialogue.

Education 1.0

Even before recorded history, adults have educated the next generation. While there may not have been a "Student of the Month," SATs, or class valedictorian, even the most primitive people innately understood the necessity of sharing essential information with their offspring. What drove early people was the need to survive - literally. They passed on skills and knowledge to their children so the individual would survive and the species thrive. With danger lurking around every corner (or, perhaps more accurately, behind every rock or tree), a quality education was essential. It may not have been formalized, but it was as crucial as it is today.

Education 1.0 - like life itself - was primarily about survival. Life was so tenuous in the earliest days of humanity, that there was little thought about improving your lot, social mobility, or self-actualization. Living to fight (or farm or hunt) another day was equivalent to making AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). When standards were met, you survived. It was truly that simple. The goal of education was clear and unambiguous.

Education 2.0

Somewhere along the line, education became formalized and was entrusted to professionals. The focus moved from survival of the individual to the accumulation of knowledge and skills, as well as developing literacy and the ability to effectively manipulate numbers. The family continued to play an important role in the education of their children, but at some point education was outsourced to those with academic expertise. Whereas Education 1.0 identified an educated person as one who was able to survive, Education 2.0 brought the notion that education is synonymous with academics.

The most significant shift that distinguishes Education 2.0 from Education 1.0 is the emphasis on society. As a teacher, instead of me being primarily concerned about teaching you what you need to know so can survive, in Education 2.0 my focus is to help you develop skills so can survive and flourish. In "Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education". Eleanor Roosevelt urges her readers to go beyond the conventional definition of education as "the acquisition of knowledge, the reading of books, and the learning of facts" and advances the idea that the purpose of education is to produce good citizens. The focal point in Education 2.0 has gradually shifted from the individual to the group.

In 2001, PBS aired a four-part documentary entitled "School: The Story of American Public Education" which suggests that the following have been goals of our public education system:

To prepare children for citizenship

To cultivate a skilled workforce

To teach cultural literacy

To prepare students for college

To help students become critical thinkers

To help students compete in a global marketplace

Consider that list. The emphasis is on serving society, either through work or further education. The emphasis is on the "commercial" benefits of a good education ("to help students compete in a global marketplace.") The goal of education is to help society flourish.

If you look up "Education" in Wikipedia, you'll read, "education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another." Notice that even in today's digital world, education is seen as the transmission of knowledge and values that perpetuate the existing society.

While each of the goals pursued in Education 2.0 has merit, something seems missing.

Education 3.0

We have entered a new era. The earliest humans were rightly preoccupied by survival and educated their children with this is mind. Subsequent generations conceptualized education as a means to support the existing society. While the focus shifted from the individual to the social group, both Education 1.0 and Education 2.0 are rooted in the drive to survive.

Even given today's difficult economic climate, most people are not concerned with literal survival. We have legitimate concerns, to be sure. But the vast majority of us fret over having fewer vacations, cutting down on luxury items, and scaling back our lifestyle to a level that our grandparents would envy. Certainly there are far too many people who are struggling more than I have described here, but the overwhelming majority of people today are considerably more comfortable than their ancestors, at least from a material perspective.

To be relevant, education must match the needs of the people. Education 1.0 was relevant because it equipped children with the knowledge and skills needed to live another day. Education 2.0 was relevant for a time because it helped us build elaborate and successful societies.

Today's world calls for an expanded model of education. With so many people -thankfully - beyond the survival level, if it is to be relevant, education needs to go beyond individual or societal survival. It's time to expand our goals. Let me propose the following additional goals for education in the 21 st century:

To help students develop their individual talents and abilities

To help students reach their potential

To help students develop into happy, responsible members of their community

To help students understand and appreciate the interconnectedness of all people

To help students respect the environment

To help students create and live a meaningful life

Conclusion

Education continuously evolves. Subsequent stages don't replace previous ones. Rather, they incorporate and build upon them. Humans have moved beyond a simple quest for survival - both on a personal level and societal level - to a quest for fulfillment. The best educational practices are those that support all students as they strive to create satisfying, purposeful, fulfilling lives. It's time to introduce Education 3.0 and make the goals I have identified an integral part of our system of education.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

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What's the Purpose of Education in the 21st Century?

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When I conduct workshops for parents and educators and ask them, "Do you want kids to have a quality educational experience?" they all say, "Yes." With enthusiasm. I have yet to have a parent or teacher say to me, "No. We're looking for a mediocre experience. Maybe even a poor one.

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Willona M. Sloan
"What is the purpose of education? This question agitates scholars, teachers, statesmen, every group, in fact, of thoughtful men and women," Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in the 1930 article, "Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education," in Pictorial Review.
If you were to ask even a relatively small group of teachers, administrators, students, parents, community members, business leaders, and policymakers to address the question of purpose, how difficult do you think it would be to reach a consensus?

You might have better luck asking, "What is the meaning of life?"

In the United States, historically, the purpose of education has evolved according to the needs of society. Education's primary purpose has ranged from instructing youth in religious doctrine, to preparing them to live in a democracy, to assimilating immigrants into mainstream society, to preparing workers for the industrialized 20th century workplace.

And now, as educators prepare young people for their futures in a world that is rapidly changing, what is the goal? To create adults who can compete in a global economy? To create lifelong learners? To create emotionally healthy adults who can engage in meaningful relationships?

Yes.

"There are many different points of view on this topic," says Jonathan Cohen, cofounder and president of the National School Climate Center. "I think that my view, and most people's view, is that the purpose of education is to support children in developing the skills, the knowledge, and the dispositions that will allow them to be responsible, contributing members of their community-their democratically-informed community. Meaning, to be a good friend, to be a good mate, to be able to work, and to contribute to the well-being of the community."

Not only should children learn civic knowledge-how the electoral college works, the history of political parties, and so on-but they also need to master civic skills, which include respecting others, working collaboratively, acting in a way that is fair and just, and being an active participant in the life of the community, Cohen says.

A Disjoint Between Ideals and Actions

Are we on track to fulfill this vision? "We are not on track," says Cohen, who believes that the No Child Left Behind Act's narrow focus neglects social and emotional learning, although they are interrelated with intellectual learning. Cohen's National School Climate Center is an organization that helps schools integrate crucial social and emotional learning with academic instruction.

In his Harvard Educational Review article "Social, Emotional, Ethical, and Academic Education: Creating a Climate for Learning, Participation in Democracy, and Well-Being," Cohen looks at the disparity between where we are and where we say we want to go.

"There is a paradox in our preK-12 schools and within teacher education. Parents and teachers want schooling to support children's ability to become lifelong learners who are able to love, work, and act as responsible members of the community. Yet, we have not substantially integrated these values into our schools or into the training we give teachers," Cohen says.

Cohen hopes to see greater support for state departments of education to establish school climate measurement systems. He says states and districts also need guidelines, tools, and resources that would help them engage educators, students, parents or guardians, and community members in creating safer, more supportive, engaging, and challenging schools.

James Harvey, a senior fellow at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, holds a similar opinion about education's purpose. "K-12 education should prepare students for life-for college, for work, for living within a family and within a community, and for participating effectively in the democratic process," he says.

Although future employment is probably necessary for most young people, K-12 education is more than just job training. "Schools have always been about developing students for life and work-and life is much more than earning a living; it is also living a life," Harvey says.

To Each His Own Definition

Cohen and Harvey are but two voices in a much larger ongoing global debate.

To engage the global community in a debate around the question, "What's the purpose of education?" Doug Belshaw and Andy Stewart founded Purpos/ed, a nonpartisan, location-independent organization. Launched in 2011, Purpos/ed fosters dialogue through activities such as the 500-word campaign, which encouraged people to take a stab at defining the purpose of education and then leading conversations on their own individual blogs.

Earlier this year, Adam Burk facilitated a rousing discussion on TED.com (which is now closed to new comments) asking, "In your opinion, what should be the purpose of education?" When Burke closed the discussion, there were as many different opinions as there were respondents.

"There are 365 comments and 365 distinct articulations of what the purpose of education should be," Burk said. "The process to develop a consensus on this is beyond the scope and purpose of this conversation. However, I do hope that it is understood that this question and its answer are the shapers of education systems and, in turn, cultures."

Despite any dilemma that varying opinions and perspectives pose, healthy debate tends to inspire innovative ideas. However, as we face the challenge of educating young people for life in the 21st century, we also know that some things will remain constant.

Dr. Gene R. Carter, chief executive officer and director of ASCD, explains in the Good article "What's the Purpose of School in the 21st Century?" that good teaching never goes out of style.

"We know that there is one education reform movement that works, and unsurprisingly, it's the same formula that has worked since we had those old textbooks, chalkboards, and red apples in the classroom. Research, policy, practice, and common sense confirm that a whole child approach to education will develop and prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of today and tomorrow," Carter says.

Harvey agrees that there's no need to scrap what has served us well in the past: "The most significant skill [young people] can develop in the 21st century is the same skill that served them well in prior centuries: a mind equipped to think, the most important work skill of them all."
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There still may be hope for our future.

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Willona M. Sloan "What is the purpose of education? This question agitates scholars, teachers, statesmen, every group, in fact, of thoughtful men and women," Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in the 1930 article, "Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education," in Pictorial Review.

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In my "What is Theatre?" Intro to theatre and drama class for 6th graders, I am charged with spending eight weeks with a set of students and then rotating them through to the other performing/ visual arts. So within that eight weeks, I am often struggling with which essential materials and ATL skills are needed to practice, comprehend, and work in theatre. At this point in my career, having taught this same course eighteen times (and now the first time ONLINE), I find the "social skills" of collaboration are vital. My purpose might just be to teach them how to work together/ communicate effectively/ think about HOW they are creating. The more we practice together, the more we understand that it is difficult to come to an artistic "vision"...but there is always the ability to utilize the tools given to create their own art in the future.

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We work on PROCESS in our drama class, and hopefully preparing the students for jobs and professions involving teamwork. This is the template from which we write our lessons.